Bioshock was launched last year almost to the day for the PC and Xbox 360. It received critical acclaims throughout the press and gamers for it’s environment and storytelling. 2K games went to great lengths to make sure that everything was on par with the other versions of the title. Game play wise there is no difference between versions, but that will change in November when exclusive DLC is made available on the Playstation Network. For complete details on the game, walk through, and strategies head over to the Bioshock wiki.

It would be easy to just write the PS3 version off giving it the same score and the same write up as previous versions. But this does the title little justice and wastes a perfect opportunity to compare it to this months other great survival shooter, Dead Space.

Physics: 8/10

In this aspect I cannot help but to compare it to Dead Space. Where as Dead Space had you kicking body parts around the ship the entire time there is no such problem here. In fact the physics in Bioshock are better than those of Unreal who’s engine is used for the title. You still get the odd dancing body though. Particularly if it gets stuck in a door or you shoot a dead playing splice before it has a chance to spring on you. Why do most games have the door problem? You would think all the automated doors in all the games would be as advanced as the one on your garage, and not close if something is in the way.

Graphics: 9/10

Like Dead Space it is great to see games coming out that actually support full resolution on the PS3. This title just looks absolutely amazing. The art deco styling, 40’s era (even though the game takes place in 1960) posters combined with the creepy atmosphere really set the mood and draw you into the game. You will find yourself running to the windows just to take a gander at what visual wonders lay beyond. The windows are also where one of this games few nagging graphical errors pop up. Apparently no one at 2K games took a good hard look at a fish tank when deciding on what to do about the water. When viewing water through glass there is no distortion of what is on the other side. Curiously they didn’t add this effect to the hallways, just the windows. The other graphical issue also pertains to liquid effects and that is walking under falling water. I understand what they were going for with the sheeting effect but it comes off like you are driving through an automated car wash. This may seem like nit picking, but when your so close to approaching 10 in a review it is what you do.

AI: 9/10

This is another area where you cannot help but to compare to Dead Space. The monsters in Dead Space will mindlessly run at you or path find out in the open if you are in a difficult to get to area. No such problems exists in Bioshock. If there is a way to get to you the enemy will and if you put a hurting on them they will retreat for the nearest heath station. You still have your low level chargers, but enemies with guns will hang back and plug away at you.

Sound: 9/10

The sound in this game excellent. As you walk around you will here various splicers vocalizing their various mental issues to no one in particular. They will complain about looks, job, lovers, whatever. You know when you are close to a big daddy because you here the groan that sounds like a ships hull stressing under pressure. One problem that stood out was in the first level. As you walk through an under water tunnel you look can look out and see a Big Daddy and Little Sister in another tunnel running parallel to yours. You can hear the Little Sister talking to Mr. Bubbles quite clearly through two panels of plate glass and 30 feet of water.

Content: 8/10

The game will take between 12-15 hours if you are familiar with shooters. It has the standard trophy check list. In November there is suppose to be DLC available but nothing at launch. Like Dead Space the game is excellent, but for the price there really needs to be something more to it other than just playing through it a second time to unlock everything. However this seems to be status quo this console generation and there are few signs that this will change.

Story: 9/10

The story for this game is, simply put, great. You don’t need to use some over blown adjective to describe it. While parts of it are typical, most of it is quite original. The diaries you pick up along the way, the flashbacks (?), the characters all add to a very compelling story line that draws you in and pushes you through the game. The story of Rapture is even more compelling than it’s environment.

Online: 0/10

What online? For as short as these story driven shooters are there really needs to be more. A good story and awesome environment are all fine and good, but there has to be an online component. There is simply no excuse this console generation and at today’s prices to not have some basic online component. Look at Orange Box. Half Life is a story driven shooter and Orange Box is considered one of the best values to be had in gaming.

Controls: 8/10

The movement controls run fluid and smooth. The weapon/plasmid controls are clunky and hindering in combat. It is cool that they split the wing buttons to left and right hands but this means that if you run out of ammo you have to cycle through ALL your weapons/plasmids to get to the one you want. Further more if you run out of one particular type of ammo it doesn’t automatically switch you to the next available type. You sit there happily pulling the trigger of an empty gun. At this point you then have to take your thumb off the movement stick to select another type of ammo. Not a good thing to do with a group of melee combatants in your face. The HUD is standard you have your life and magic bars all the typical HUD trappings.

Game Play: 9/10

Pretty standard shooter affair. You shoot anything that is talking nonsense and loot the corpse. The plasmids add depth to the tactics at your disposal. I don’t know if I just play video games weird, but like most titles for me, what is suppose to be difficult ends up quite easy. The Big Daddy is suppose to uber hard to kill. If you are going for the “No death” trophies they are down right risky to even deal with. Not so for me. I always have a couple of security bots following me around and when I engage a Big Daddy it leaves me alone to plug away at close range with the shotgun or whacking it in the back with the wrench. After the drones are dead it will turn it’s attention to me but by this time a few armor piercing rounds will put it down. I love hacking, I used to play Pipe Mania back in the day and was going to buy it now that it is available on PSN, but now I don’t have to. I’ll just play Bioshock. I hack everything turrets, health stations, vending machines, drones if it can be hacked I hack it. And this is what my play style centers around. I’ll hack a turret and then lure everything into it’s firing range. The different plasmids, tonics, weapons and upgrades add real depth to game play. It isn’t like most shooters where you choose your favorite weapon and start plugging away.

Conclusion:

Bioshock is just as much of a must have title now as it was a year ago. The story and environment are amazing and turn all other problems this title has into nit picking. It ranks up there with Half Life in the story and environment department and surpasses most newer titles in the gameplay department. If you don’t already own this title for the 360 or PC it is definitely worth picking up